Steelers Now
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro defensive tackle Cam Heyward had a banner day in the team’s 21-14 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday. The 36-year-old vet recorded six tackles (3 solos), one sack, one pass defensed, one quarterback hit and one forced fumble. Heyward’s pass deflection resulted in a Brandon Echols’ interception in the end zone right before halftime. Heyward’s force fumble on running back Rhamondre Stevenson also prevented a touchdown, as Payton Wilson came up with the loose ball in the end zone.
That’s 14 points that Heyward prevented. In a seven-point win, Heyward basically won the game for the Steelers. At 36, Heyward continues to defy the odds and produce at a high level.
“He’s a dawg. You want to be the guy that is the reason we win. He embodied that today,” Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb said of Heyward.
Rookie defensive lineman Derrick Harmon also gave high praise to the wily vet.
“He comes in to work every day, really gets to it,” Harmon said. “He’s on the little details. He’s on my behind about the little details day in and day out. That’s why we love Cam. He stays on other players, and he stays on himself.”
The Steelers forced five turnovers in Sunday’s 21-14 win over the Patriots, four of those turnovers came on fumbles.
Heyward revealed to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that the Steelers were aware of the Patriots’ poor ball security.
“We knew there were a lot of career fumbles on the other side,” Heyward said, via Florio.
Florio asked Heyward specifically about running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who fumbled twice. Heyward laughed and said, ‘Oh, we were aware every time he was in the game.”
Heyward was not picking on just Stevenson, however.
“Generally, this is a group that turns over the ball,” he said.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said it’s a part of their defensive culture to ball search.
“No question. We spend a lot of time on our ball search culture,” Tomlin said when asked if the Steelers worked on punching the ball out during practice this week. “But it’s just words. It’s an agenda. The efforts of the guys make it real. Not only on Sunday but during the course of the week. It just felt like we were heading toward a good game in that area just by the way we worked this week in that area.”
Getting in pass lanes and deflecting passes is also a big part of the Steelers’ defensive culture. It’s something that Heyward has mastered. He had a career-high 11 pass deflections last season.
Heyward’s knack to deflect passes came up huge on the Echols’ interception off Drake Maye in the end zone late in the second half.
“You can’t always rush,” Heyward said. “You have to get your hands up, and the result was an interception.”
If you've ever studied Cam Heyward he definitely studies this stuff with QBs who have a longer release. He's done...
